Bangladesh ask ICC for extension ahead of World T20 2014

The Bangladesh Cricket Board has requested the ICC an extension to be able to complete work on the Cox's Bazar stadium, with little more than six months to go until the 2014 edition of the World T20.

Things have been problematic for the BCB with respect to getting venues ready in time, and there have been media reports suggesting Bangladesh could be in the danger of losing out on the hosting rights for the tournament.

The venue at Cox's Bazar was inaugurated by the Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina with BCB chief Nazmul Hassan also with her for the occasion. He addressed the media later and said while the deadline to complete the work was for September 30th, they would need a couple of more weeks to do that.

Hassan said: "We are scheduled to hand over the stadium to the ICC on September 30. The way work is progressing, I think it will take another fifteen days from the deadline to finish the work. So we have asked for some additional time from the ICC and sent a letter. I hope the work will be completed in time."

The 2014 World T20 will be played across four venues, with the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Dhaka, Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong, and Sylhet Divisional Stadium in Sylhet as the other venues.

The Cox's Bazar stadium will host only the women's World T20 games.

A total of 16 teams will participate in the 2014 World T20, which is the fifth edition of the tournament. India won the first edition of World T20 in 2007 while Pakistan were the winners of the 2009 edition. England went on to beat Australia in the final in 2010 while West Indies claimed their first title in 2012 when they beat hosts Sri Lanka in the final.

The 10 Test playing nations will get a direct entry into the 2014 World T20 while 16 other teams will participate in a qualifying round in November in the UAE to decide on the remaining six slots in the competition.